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My family and I are currently living in MI and if any of you have heard, MI is not the greatest place to live at the moment (economy extremely bad). We are looking to move to Southern California because my husband and I have always dreamed of moving there. Can anyone tell me where we would be able to rent a home for a reasonable price that is in a safe area and close to LA or San Diego or even a bit north of LA? Looking for the areas safe and not so expensive. I know there can't be rich people throughout the whole state. I'd appreciate the help!

Under or about $1000 a month and 3 bedrooms or a house to rent or land contract would be great. From all the forum messages it seems that CA is so expensive to live in. I prefer to live in Southern CA but just need some suggestions. And if you listened to the news lately, MI is a state in my opinion that could possibly shut down. We are $1Billion in the hole and economists are recommending everyone move from here! That is sad. I've just always wanted to live in CA, if you ever lived where I live, it would seem like paradise compared to MI!

Under or about $1000 a month and 3 bedrooms or a house to rent or land contract would be great. From all the forum messages it seems that CA is so expensive to live in. I prefer to live in Southern CA but just need some suggestions. And if you listened to the news lately, MI is a state in my opinion that could possibly shut down. We are $1Billion in the hole and economists are recommending everyone move from here! That is sad. I've just always wanted to live in CA, if you ever lived where I live, it would seem like paradise compared to MI!

Well San Diego is in the hole as well.
This is the quickest link I can find on the situation.
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/2962585/detail.html (broken link)

Also, for $1,000 for a 3 bedroom, if you did find a place like that in Southern California you hit the jackpot!! You can't even get a place like that in the worst parts of Southern California.

lalondnm, California is way in debt as well, close to $40 billion!!
You have to ask yourself, why you want to live here, what is the draw for you?
If it is a better financial situation, a place under $1000/mo maybe in Bakersfield... still I doubt it.
Even where I live 75 miles NE of LA you cannot find any rents under $1800/mo unless you are in gang/drug territory. I do not want to squelch a dream, but reality has to play a part.
MBG

You might be able to find a 3/2 for that price in the high desert (Victorville, Hesperia, etc), but the economy there isn't great. We looked at some 4bdrms that were 1300/month and were nice. Many people think of poorly of that area, but IMO it isn't so bad; but it isn't really what people expect from SoCal, if that makes sense

Bakersfield, Fresno, and Stockton are also within your price range. I don't know anything about the first two, but I lived in Stockton for almost two years and overall, I liked it. There are good and bad areas, good and bad schools. There are jobs there, and it's an easy commute to Sacramento, I worked there when I lived in Stockton.

I would say that if you are looking for something that large for 1000/month, you might want to consider Oregon or Washington where housing is cheaper. In my opinion, the point of living in california is being near the water and having the sun out most of the year. If you're going to be living inland you might as well try Arizona or the northern states, where you'll get more for your money and have a better quality of life.

I would say that if you are looking for something that large for 1000/month, you might want to consider Oregon or Washington where housing is cheaper. In my opinion, the point of living in california is being near the water and having the sun out most of the year. If you're going to be living inland you might as well try Arizona or the northern states, where you'll get more for your money and have a better quality of life.

Yes, that's a good point. You can definitely get rentals for 1000 a month in many areas of AZ. Though, this state is a right-to-work state and salaries aren't that high, depending on your field. It's much warmer than MI, too

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